provoked the protests while defending the right to free speech. >> obama: americans have fought and died around the globe to protect the right of all people to express their views. even views we profoundly disagree with. and on this, we must agree there is no speech that justifies mindless violence. there are no words that excuse the killing of innocents. there's no video that justifies an attack on an embassy. >> eliot: the president warned iran that while it still had time to demonstrate its nuclear program was peaceful, that time was not unlimited. >> obama: make no mistake a nuclear armed iran is not a challenge that can be contained and that's why the united states will do what we must to prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. >> eliot: the president also spoke out against human trafficking in a speech at the clinton global initiative. a little earlier, it was mitt romney who basked in the former president clinton's presence before rapped sizing over plans to help developing nations with prosperity packs. >> working with the private sector, the program will identify the

looking at this like it was stock i'd be buying a lot on the futures of president obama right now. >> i agree with you chris. thanks for coming inside the war room. that's chris lehane. up next, mitt romney made a comment on 60 minutes last night that proves one of two things. even he doesn't understand how government functions or he's deliberately distorting the truth. i don't have to tell you where the smart money is going. you're in the war room that can only be health matters to all of us. that's why lysol has started a mission for health. with new mom programs, lysol healthy habits initiatives in schools and disaster relief efforts. when you use lysol at home, you'll know you're a part of something bigger. for healthy tips and more, visit lysol.com/missionforhealth. right by those who gave their lives to for this country nearly 70 years ago. >> his challenge of blaming it on the republican congress for the first two years right now the majority of his term, he had a democratic congress, a super majority and yet a whole series of things he said he was going to do he didn't do. >> a

jobs. >> obama: right now, i'm asking you to choose a better path than the one that my opponents offer. one that helps big factories and small businesses double their exports. that sells more goods stamped with made in america than the rest of the world. we can create one million new manufacturing jobs in the next four years with the right policies. >> jennifer: so will the president's argument be enough to help him win ohio as did he, very narrowly in the last election? we'll see. but if we can learn anything from the new polls it's that when it comes to this presidential race, things can change in an instant. for more on the battle for ohio and what's at stake in this election, we turn to washington and perhaps the liberal, progressive in ohio, dennis kucinich. congressman, welcome back inside "the war room." >> governor, good to be with you. >> jennifer: all right. so romney's now showing a new strategy in ohio which is showing empathy. is that going to work in ohio? >> he's got obviously a long way to go. it is not just about empathy. it is about articulating what would he do diffe

specific if he has any chance and right now it looks like president obama because of his support for the auto industry, the steel industry has done well, because of that, it's going to be very difficult for romney to make up that ground. >> jennifer: ohio's unemployment rate, as we all know is about a point below the national average. do you think that ohioans are feeling that economic recovery and they're giving the president some credit for that? >> i tell you, there are some marginal gains that he has because of that. but you know, just -- a word of caution and i think you've had that before you began speaking with me. these elections can change. i think that turnout is going to be a tremendous factor. president obama has an advantage. but his vote has to come out. i remember in the kerry campaign in 2004, we had this enormous rally, all of this momentum. it looked like ohio was going to change the outcome of the election. it ended up where bush flipped it on election day. it was shocking. also on election day i remember back to 2000 where the gore campaign wrote off ohio. the electio

points behind barack obama right now. is that the same kind of polling you guys are finding with your internal? >> it is not consistent with our polling. >> jennifer: when abc's david muir asked mitt romney about polls that showed his 47% comment had actually hurt him mitt romney comes naturally. he lied about it. >> well, i'm very pleased with some polls. less so with other polls but frankly at this early stage polls go up and polls go down. as you look at the national polls, you see i'm tied in the national polls. >> jennifer: in fact, it is just not true. the latest national gallup poll from today has the president up by 6 points. gallup that far left, skewed organization. but there does seem to be little room for reality in the current republican party. so the polls themselves have become the latest right wing scapegoat. so today fox news picked up the theme. >> are the swing states really swinging toward the president or could there possibly be some skewing going on by the media the left-based mainstream media? why would they do that? well, two reasons. one perhaps to keep mitt r

offense against president obama? you can't attack him from the right wing position, because obama is center right any way. and you can't go further right or you would like crazy. i would attack him from the left. you say, mitt romney is not the progressive, you're right. who cares. the media is not going to call that out. if mitt romney did a full attack on president obama from a progressive perspective, that would actually work, and he would get to say i care about the middle class this guy obviously doesn't. how would he do it? let me show you the numbers, we have 8.1% unemployment. if you add in the 8.2 million under employed, and the 2.5 million people who say they would love a job but are discouraged and not looking any more you actually got 23 million people in this country who want a job and who can't get one. i say, president obama what did you do? you said you're for the middle class but that's 23 million people looking for a job and you didn't give them one. you may say that sounds fairly standard. let's get more into the numbers. i would go to the food stamp program. there

]. >> oh, right. >> stephanie: national ememployment is worse than when president obama took over. this is simply not true. i love my graphs and charts. >> you are a regular ross perreault. >> stephanie: yeah. unemployment peaked in 2009 and it has much improved today. see that. >> i see that. >> stephanie: now look at that. look at the important things and not over here. stupid cameras. who said yes to this? [ laughter ] >> oh, god. >> stephanie: 17 minutes after the hour -- >> is it the hawk? >> yes, she is inviting the hawk. >> will you provide the hamburgers and bourbon? >> that's pretty much what our show on current tv is going to be. >> stephanie: i wouldn't miss a minute of today's show because collectively we have had about 45 minutes of sleep. >> announcer: highbrow, low brow unibrow. it's the "stephanie miller show." ♪ health matters to all of us. that's why lysol has started a mission for health. with new mom programs, lysol healthy habits initiatives in schools and disaster relief efforts. when you use lysol at home, you'll know you're a part of something bigger. for healt

michael hastings who is covering the obama campaign, and he's in nevada with them right now. i have one quick question for you, michael. what is president obama's campaign reaction? are they amused, chagrined? what is their reaction. >> my reaction, look, they're taking it very seriously. especially the voter suppression efforts. they have what is called a voter protection officer in each of the major swing states on election day. there will be teams of voter protection volunteers to make sure that everyone who shows up at the poll to make sure they can vote if they're legally allowed to vote. and when you listen to the stump speeches, especially michelle obama's sump stump speech encouraging people to vote. they will come home and drive the points home, especially in communities of latinos and black communities, but that has a huge effort using the pulpit and the grassroots networks that they'll have on election day. >> cenk: michael hastings, terrific reporting as usual. thank you. >> thank you. >> cenk: problem number one for romney is that they don't have the goods. they just don't

social safety net. that's not right. as they're campaigning president obama's obviously trying to focus on that, but he had a funny kind of slip up here. watch this as he's speaking at kent state. >> the first thing is i want to see us export more jobs -- export more products. excuse me. [ laughter ] >> i was -- i was channeling my opponent there for a second. >> see that's how you recover from a gaffe or a flub. mitt romney can learn a thing or two about that. he turned it right around. in reality, of course, he's exactly right. being capitalist, exports jobs abroad bragging about it. now we've got an old tape found from 1985 where he's talking about what bain is really about. check this out and see what he says. >> bain capital is an investmentner ship formed to invest in startup companies and ongoing companies then to take an active hand in managing them and five or eight years later to harvest them as a significant profit. >> did you get that last past? to home run rest them as a significant profit. we get it you're in the business of making a significant profit, but that word

of perks right? >> just the little things that he nails. it's really great. >> bill: which obama does. he's out there in front of the crowd. senator sherrod brown ahead ten points in ohio. bob cusack, the managing editor of "the hill" newspaper will be here in studio with us as a "friend of bill" a little bit later. and we'll also be talking to teddy kennedy jr. about how the obama campaign is going. and here's my question. what the hell is wrong with white males? >> wake up, white people. >> bill: but first -- >> this is the "full court press." >> headlines making news on this friday. a standing ovation for the returning union nfl officials at the ravens/browns game last night. the crowd went wild when referee gene and his seven-man crew took the field before the game in baltimore. refs were a bit surprised but smiled and tipped their hats to the crowd as a thank you. ravens player ray lewis even came over and gave a hug. >> lewis doesn't give hugs, by the way. it is a big deal. >> espn spoke with players and coaches after the game who all had nothing but high praise for the off

president obama said hey listen, put pressure on me from the outside. to do the right thing and to be productive, so we don't go in the wrong direction. >> we've seen where the most effectiveness, in the communities that put pressure on the issues. >> that is a great point. >> this is a fundamental issue. of course we want obama to be reelected. boy have we got our work cuttous for us to talk about this and create a peace movement that's willing to challenge him and challenge the pentagon and not go quietly into the night. >> don't go quietly into the night. robert, thank you so much. eliot spitzer is next with viewpoint. >> chenk, you will never go quietly into the night that we know for sure. we are going to talk about mitt romney's foreign policy and the worst call in nfl history. almost as bad as bush v. gore, but not quite as important perhaps. >> i would not have gone quite that far. >> it's the nfl equivalent. >> the famous elbow of the day. who's head is it going to land on? find out when we come back. to get the benefits of private pass. more concerts, more events more experi

sarah palin -- >> only if you wink when you do that. >> right. right. >> jennifer: you absolutely can, let's start with the candidate's weaknesses. you have said that president obama has several weaknesses. he may be overly cautious rusty, out of practice, and testy. any of those fatal flaws? >> not necessarily unless they are magnified in a way that make them a fatal flaw. but related that is this idea that i don't think he is that excited about being in the debate, and i think that's typical for a lot of candidates and yet that is a problem. because when you are happy to be there, that's when you turn in a good performance. it's when you are worried about feel like you are stepping through land mines that things can go wrong for you. >> jennifer: who wants to be in this high-risk, high-profile tense environment? nobody loves that. >> no, but i think certain people rise to the level of the performance. bill clinton you always got the feeling that he was very happy to be there. >> jennifer: it makes me smile thinking about it. you also say that governor rom any has a few of these flaws as well. he could be overly cautious, he lacks spontaneity. he appears awkward and

hampshire look about even right now. virginia, some are saying obama is up by a point or so. others say by as many as four. it just depends on what poll you're looking at. he's ahead in this one. florida poll results range from even to obama ahead by 4. obama's lead in nevada seems to be between 2 and 5 in colorado. i love that we're watching this today. romney's path to victory could be -- >> if a meteor -- >> look, a monkey flew out my butt. >> stephanie: ohio pennsylvania and michigan. i don't -- i don't understand what the path could be. >> rename it the stench munster campaign. >> stinky. >> stephanie: look, everybody it is the stench munster. how about this. [ ♪ "world news tonight" ♪ ] listening to -- stop it! when randy rose is in -- randy rhodes is in a commercial break i subject myself to sean hannity. i said it. literally, the theme is obama's foreign policy has been a disaster. it has been a disaster. why looky here. americans trust a better government to handle international affairs than in a decade. >> what do you know about that. >> stephanie: 66% have a great deal of tr

press show." >> bill: all right. 41 days to go. and barack obama and mitt romney agree on one thing. the scab refs have got to go. and we have got to bring back the union refs. what do you say? hello, everybody. it is a wednesday, september 26th. good to see you today. this is the "full court press." we're coming to you live across this great land of ours coast-to-coast on your local progressive talk radio station and of course on current tv. good to have you with us. we get the first crack at the news of the day. bringing you all of the latest and taking your calls. love to hear from you wherever you happen to be. love those voices from alabama and mississippi, and north dakota, and the west coast, and new england, and, you know, this good mirror of america here. fun to hear from all of you. call us at 866-55-press and join the team here. peter ogburn, dan henning, and siprian bowling. >> we're particularly interested in hearing from our friends from lochapocha alabama. >> bill: check the tide chart. it was like my hometown in delaware city, we used to stay the population was 1200

thinks we're sharp-tongued women, then i guess he is right about that. but president obama is on the show all the time. and doesn't seem to mind. we're respectful to these politicians who come on and if he can't deal with my sharp tongue how is he going to deal with putin's sharp tongue or others? he did to come on the show and just do it. >> cenk: i'm not sure i want to think about romney dealing with putin's sharp tongue. [ laughter ] >> cenk: it appears no matter how much they are concerned about you guys they feel like they have to show up on "the view" anyway. how does that feel? >> joy: i'm going to take myself on a little power trip if you keep saying these things to me. but i think they do know that we have a huge female audience that vote. i have been there for 15 years, and have gotten into plenty of trouble over the years. i got in trouble with john mccain because i called him on something, and he didn't like that. and maybe romney is afraid i'll do that again. all i know is he is being chicken for not coming on. and it doesn't serve him well to not come on. >> cenk: sharp

. this is, by far, to me, from a media right wing delusional obama derangement syndrome file this is by far the most fascinating development. you know, media matters we watch these right wing crazies. you watch them all the time and the amazing thing is they never cease to surprise us with what they come with next. two weeks ago, if you told me virtually the entire conservative pundit accuracy would go all in on this claim there was this conspiracy or pollsters -- all pollsters were now in the pocket of the white house -- >> stephanie: a. p. is in on it. obama was in reach of a second term. obama within reach of the 270 electoral votes. mitt romney's pass victory is narrowing. the associated press reported yesterday. again, just numbers right eric? just numbers. it is a snapshot. they admit of where we are right now. >> i haven't seen it specifically -- i saw something on twitter a headline that even rasmussen has obama up three. so now they've got -- >> stephanie: the fox news poll. as well. >> they're in on the conspiracy. >> the "wall street journal" poll. you have to have rupert

many e-mails from the obama campaign, i must have. yeah right. look, i would answer to bill or billy or william. >> you've answered to worse. >> you'll never answer to billy by the way. if you'll answer to billy i'm going to start calling you billy. >> here's what i need to do. by the end of the day you need to put magnus on the list because i want to find out how many magnuses there are. because i want to find out if there are more magnuses than majors. >> can't be a lot. >> bill: are majors in blue states or red states? >> it doesn't say. it encourages me -- to encourage my friends to register if they haven't. >> bill: since you've already proven you're such a hideous sports nut, your take on the deal the nfl deal? why did it take so long, right? >> before we get to the details i just wonder if there is anything that you see in the fascination with the story, the underlying contours of it that you find has any rev lens to the presidential campaign or the debates? >> bill: yes. for me. now, i'm a union member, right. i'm a proud union member. i think this really -- when i saw scott

you that was a risky move by obama. my wife doesn't have the right temperament to be president. >> when was the last time you called carol temperamental? >> bill: i wouldn't go there. that frying pan would be bouncing off my head. i was surprised. it's a good thing michelle took that the right way. >> yeah, that was thin ice to go out on. >> bill: that was. thin ice indeed. >> bill: joe cirincione is going to talk to us about what the president might accomplish up at the united nations and what the latest is on libya and syria. dave zeron our sports guru, we share him with the "nation" magazine will be here to talk about that incredible bad call last night in the seahawks and packers game and judd legum, of course, it's tuesdays with judd. judd legum from think progress. but first -- >> this is the "full court press." >> good morning on this tuesday. other headlines making news. the hatred for the replacement nfl officials hit a boiling point on monday night football last night. at the end of the game between the green bay packers and the seattle seahawks, the quarterback russe

president obama to do the right thing? >> that's a great question, chenk. we have to get everyone out to vote significantly and we have to be urgent. sam jackson wake the f. up, we have to vote. at the same time we have to look at this next election with the hope that obama wins with a very critical self reflective eye. what can we expect from any color president not as a full member community of the nation as a whole. so that's what i think a lot of reflection and political rethinking has to go on. we can't expect a black penalty to do what we need, but that we have to ask ourselves how to create a new political vision that demands the same of everybody. >> all right professor trisha rose, thank you as always. >> and seals a very interesting conversation. it is a tough tough question. when we come back, yes, prime minister netanyahu of israel had a very important serious talk at the united nations. no question about that. we also found a funny moment. >> this is a bomb, this is a fuse. >> when we come back, also serious and funny a man walking around with a fake r.p.g. how did it turn o

be shouting objects at that point. all right. the president. >> obama: who is going to put the most points on the board? [ cheers ] >> obama: no, no, governor romney, he is a good debater. i'm just okay. >> consider your expectations lowered. >> stephanie: all right. >> how low can you go? >> stephanie: karen in virginia you are on the "stephanie miller show." hi karen. >> hi, miss stephanie. how are you. >> stephanie: good. okay. >> caller: it is pouring down rain here in virginia. cantor's tears because wayne powell came out swinging in that debate. ♪ let's hear it for the boy ♪ >> caller: he started out swinging and all you could see was cantor just -- you could tell he was getting furious. >> he was probably bitchy faced -- >> caller: he didn't answer any questions. he danced around -- it is all about how these attacks that's not getting anything done in washington -- >> yeah, but cantor is not getting anything done in washington. >> stephanie: yeah who would be behind that? >> caller: gee i don't know maybe him. >> stephanie: that is awesome. i had a feeling that wayne con

this in every election. in 2008 when it was happening with barack obama, fox news and the right wing media went bonkers that he was measuring the drapes before he was even elected. >> how dare he! entitled. before we go to break bill is going to have a book signing. if you want to meet mr. bill dress in carolina, he's goings to be signing copies of his book. i'm going to hold it up, friday october 12 at avenue m. restaurant and bar in ashville, north carolina. go meet bill and come back and watch his show with me and karl right after this break. perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv. dose of politics from a fresh perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: this is the "bill >> this is the bill dress show. i'm john fugelsang filling in for bill all morning long joined by karl frisch. any final notes and where can people follow you? >> go to my website karlfrisch.com. tell the moderators to ask questions based on substance. >> i would ask mitt romney if you had your way and

with no kids. really? okay. okay. all right. the president in ohio campaigning yesterday. >> obama: i have woken up every single day doing everything i can to give american workers a fair shot in this global economy. >> stephanie: yeah and he talked about early voting. >> obama: on october 2nd, which is just six days from now, you get to start voting. [ cheers ] >> stephanie: oh, he is like a little enthusiasm. >> enthusiasm! >> stephanie: election day starts now. [♪ "world news tonight" theme ♪] >> stephanie: early voting expected to exceed 2008 levels. the election would be win or lost thank to early voting has now spread to over half of the swing states. and it starts today in iowa and more states to follow. about 35% of the vote will be cast before election day. 78% of all votes in colorado were cast prior to election day in 2008. in 2012 the election day will be essentially won or lost before election day. voters have already cast their ballots before the debates are held. >> yes. >> stephanie: which is interesting. sweet jesus. >> oh sweet jesus! >> stephanie: okay. the pres

do. >> jennifer: all right. cheryl. >> spirit halloween is selling both obama and romney masks, and they report the number of people buying obama masks this cycle is even greater than in 2008. >> jennifer: who knows. it may even be a bigger turnout. the first presidential debate is wednesday, and it is prompting both campaigns to say very nice things to each other. and we'll tell you about the layest republican dirty tricks in florida. it's friday night in "the war room." we're just getting (vo) what is said here could decide the election. current tv presents coverage of the presidential debate. with unrivaled analysis and commentary. >> you're going to hear that used as a major talking point. (vo) the only network with real-time reaction straight from the campaigns and from viewers like you. >>now that's politically direct. >>> since you have debated mitt romney, what advice would you give to barack obama? >> call bill clinton every morning. [ laughter ] >> jennifer: that's newt gingrich offering president obama some unsolicited advice. meanwhile the obama and romney campaigns are

mitt romney came out of a primary even more hardened and more to -- to the right, and that he doesn't appeal -- he does not appeal to the latino voter on a lot of issues whereas president obama has done several things recently in particular that has shown the latino community that he wants to serve us and be our president. and i fine it very hard for mitt romney to move those numbers, be they 70/30 or what have you. he has to significantly move those numbers. and in particular swing states, nevada, texas, colorado pennsylvania, ohio and that will be the difference of a victory in those states. >> eliot: he is not going to do it. because he is the most awkward politician in history. all right, penda hair and loretta sanchez thank you both for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> thank you, elliot. >> eliot: the undecided voters at this point what do they need to know? jack you're a little boring. boring. boring. [ jack ] after lauren broke up with me, i went to the citi private pass page and decided to be...not boring. that's how i met marilyn... giada... really good. yes! [ jack ] ...a

has been writing about the issue for "the nation" magazine. all right. you have to commence that comedian sarah silverman will do just about anything to ensure president obama's reelection. that's coming up. used as a major talking point. (vo) the only network with real-time reaction straight from the campaigns and from viewers like you. >>now that's politically direct. septic disasters are disgusting and costly, but avoidable. the rid-x septic subscriber program helps prevent backups by sending you monthly doses right to your door so you will never forget to maintain your system. sign up at rid-x.com. [ dennis' voice ] i bet he's got an allstate agent. they can save you up to 30% more by bundling your policies. well his dog's stupid. [ dennis' voice ] poodles are one of the world's smartest breeds. are you in good hands? [ male announcer ] this is karen and jeremiah. they don't know it yet but they're gonna fall in love get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money. [

takes up same-sex marriage. just as anthony kennedy has been siding strong with gay rights, it's not clear by the obama administration position that all discrimination based on sexual orientation should be subjected to the highest scrutiny. that could be a tight hotly- hotly-fought case as well. >> eliot: where kennedy goes with the liberal views on the court and roberts go to the conservative, and roberts saying, who is turning coats on us now. >> he likes it to be the kennedy court and not the roberts court he'll be back to be in the role of swing votes but he'll be sure to anchor both the left and the right on gay marriage. >> eliot: who ever thought that justice kennedy would be viewed as the swing vote given how conservative they are, that shows you how far the spectrum has moved to the right. >> and the fact that kennedy would not listen to roberts on the healthcare case and roberts took it back and made it his own, we'll see if he keeps it the roberts court this term. >> eliot: editor of the new republic, thank you for your insights tonight. >> thank you. >> eliot: the mil

right, hush! >> going to turn the poll numbers to -- >> stephanie: here we go. women back obama 56% to mitt's 38%. >> you can make that up -- he can make that up tonight. with his personality. >> stephanie: black voters, 94 to 2. hispanics, 73 to 21. >> even herman cain -- >> stephanie: obama, by the way, for the fake media story lines, he's at the same level with white voters as he was in 2008. all of that is going landslide is all i'm saying. >> larry the landslide lizard is stretching. >> it's interesting that, you know, when they talk about -- you know, the primary thing that they do every time we have a debate is that they downplay the abilities of both sides. they both have been doing it. they've both been acting like they've never been on a debate stage. everybody talks on their behalf. the president is almost doing it like a joke. >> he's really good. >> i'm okay. >> stephanie: how much -- before you get something like this -- >> right exactly. do i really want to say this? >> stephanie: i'm scared of the zingers. >> uh-oh. here come the zingers. think he's going to have a badm

have a "substantial lead over president obama." in that world, obama would have bigger issues to focus on, what with all the flying pigs and mothersmen of the apocalypse flying about. i'm done talking now. >> thank you brett. all right everybody someone's always in our war room, so you should check us out on line at current.com/thewarroom, check out our web extras to find stuff that we don't talk about on the show but you love to see. tomorrow is voter registration day across the nation. everybody who's watching this program needs to grab a family member, friend or stranger off the street who is not registered to vote and get them to register. it's a huge issue. we're going to be all over it. we checked out a wilco concert over the weekend. we're going to bring that you and much more. i hope you all have a tremendous night and we will see you tomorrow.

breakers. all giants in their own right, although i think tim is actually 4'1". that's next on "say anything." ♪ >> joy: as you may have heard, possibly, president and mrs. obama sat down for

on top, president obama was second at former president george w. bush scored third at 46%, a solid three points ahead of mitt romney. you heard that right, george w. bush is more popular than mitt romney. and some republicans are blaming the campaign's problem on the candidate himself. an anonymous romney organization top member was quoted as saying . . . and a top washington republican . . . turning to the latest swing state polls. a survey has likely voters in new hampshire backing the president a 50 to 45%. new hampshire voters also give the president a 7-point edge. in virginia the president is leading mitt romney again by two points, as does suffolk university and d.c. 12 poll. while the nevada virginia and colorado races are close, mitt romney chose to campaign today in pennsylvania. he told the crowd at the military academy. >> romney: i want to take that big cloud off of the small business world that is hang over them. three-quarters say they don't want to hire more people because of obamacare. [ cheers ] >> eliot: despite the fact that he sited his romney care act as a gre

. >> as with bill clinton he is enemies right at the moment of election where you have this hard core opposition as clinton did with newt gingrich. and then people say maybe he'll unleash in the second term. i think people are concerned with obama as well, who is the real obama. >> eliot: yeah. but we do know that mitt romney is being sunk but his apparently feelty to the far right. and david stockman said this guy is a joker. >> that's right. they look at romney and say this is too far. the right has gone to an extreme that we never would have envisioned or endorsed and the country cannot sustain. this deep of cut to the social net and economic engine will spell chaos. >> eliot: part of the reason for this is there is this huge chasm when the imagery of ronald reagan and the reality of how he governed. the article is titled "who is driving mitt," eric bates, executive editor of "rollingstone" magazine, thank you for time you tonight. >> thank then how'd i get this... [ voice of dennis ] ...allstate safe driving bonus check? what is that? so weird, right? my agent, tom, said... [ voic

folks at the pizza party right afterwards. barack obama is it 34? >> 37. barack obama 36. so whatever it is, it is really coming up quick and obviously nevada is going to be critical to this election. >> john: the president doesn't know how many days until the election. he doesn't care how many -- you think he really didn't know how many days until the election? >> i mean -- first of all these outrageous countdowns to a certain day drive me nuts but we're not that far out. >> john: it's not that far out. he should know. i would think he knows. >> john: i think he's aware of it. that's how cool and off the cuff he is. mitt romney, of course, not to be outdone he is giving a foreign policy speech next week after the debate. the two candidates are not campaign today. they're both taking time off for today only to work on their debate prep. of course, mitt romney is rehearsing with rob portman of ohio standing in for barack obama because really when you think about black neoprogressive democrat, who do you want to have stand in for that? rob portman. >> absolutely. >> john: this

. >> eliot: as president obama opens up a significant lead over mitt romney, democratic senators are being pulled along with him especially in races featuring far right tea party republicans. most dplairing example where democrat joe donnelly has pulled ahead of richard mourdock. republicans have held the seat since 1977. it was-mile-per-hour -- mourdock who won by claiming the tea party mantle and attacking louver as a republican who would compromise but now that he's fallen behind his democratic opponent,-mile-per-hour dock is trying to step away from the tea party and court the moderate vote. let's bring in politico's national political reporter, david catanese. >> good to be with you eliot. >> eliot: it is a great interest. the senate being hugely important. the white house is something we have -- we know where that's going to go. let's talk indiana. what do you make of this race and is it really winnable for the democrats? >> it's definitely in play and this is not where republicans wanted to be 40 some days out in a very red state like indiana. they lose indiana they basically do not

even more hardened and more to -- to the right, and that he doesn't appeal -- he does not appeal to the latino voter on a lot of issues whereas president obama has done several things recently in particular that has shown the latino community that he wants to serve us and be our president. and i fine it very hard for mitt romney to move those numbers, be they 70/30 or what have you. he has to significantly move those numbers. and in particular swing states nevada texas, colorado pennsylvania ohio and that will be the difference of a victory in those states. >> eliot: he is not going to do it. because he is the most awkward politician in history. all right, penda hair and loretta sanchez thank you both for your time tonight. >> thank you. so, you guys grew up together. yes, since third grade... what are you lookin' at? not looking at i anything... we're not good enough for you. must be supermodels? what do you model gloves? brad, eat a snickers. why? 'cause you get a little angry when you're hungry. better? [ male announcer ] you're not you when you're hungry™. better. [ male annou

seems like it has been a longer campaign right? the media now -- every day really every second, people are watching what obama and romney says. it is the dominant story. i think people are feeling this is one of those elections of a lifetime which vision for america to go to. so it is a lot of hype for this one and there is a feeling now with barack obama up in the polls, three points nationally but up in some -- almost all of the swing states he might be able to close the deal with the american people tomorrow night if he has a good performance. on the other hand, as governor chris christie said over the weekend, if mitt romney comes in and is able to hold his own or even get a few good jabs in, he could get a bit of a bounce. he's been struggling. this is an important debate. the first one's always important. it set acetone and tenor for the others. >> jennifer: i love the fact we have these ringside seats for history in the making. we have unearthed a radio clip from the very first -- as far as we know, the very first official presidential debate. it was from a primary match

talk about debates, i can't help thinking about what's going on with mitt romney right now, mitt romney running for president and for most of his campaign been talking about one single issue the economy the economy, the economy. >> i think president obama is talking about something else that's bigger, leadership. mitt romney hasn't been talking about leadership. the thing that happens in these debates is do they give us a moment, do they give us one particular moment where we know that the argument for this candidate is working or the argument against this candidate is working. there were big moments over the last 40-50 years of televised debates. john kennedy and richard nixon how nixon loft because he didn't wear make up and looked like he didn't shave. they thought he was dark and smarmy. turns out they were right, he was. >> whether was the al gore sigh, over and over again. [ sighs ] >> exactly. before that debate, al gore was five points ahead of george burke, after the sigh, he stalled out and george bush still lost that election, but he closed in close enough for the supreme cou

cynthia tucker. i want to talk about the good news for the obama team right now. cynthia, why do you think -- take a minute here -- despite this ugly campaign i've just pointed out in its pattern, its thread, what they are doing to try to delegitimize this president, why is he doing well in the toughest states? >> we've talked about what campaign has done wrong. we haven't spent as much time talking about the things obama has done right. obama has done a lot of things right. for one thing, he's just a stronger candidate. he relates to people better. he's more approachable. his favorability rates are higher, while romney has high unfavorability ratings. but obama actually has a set of principles he believes in. so, he has a message that he carries out on the campaign trail over and over again. mitt romney doesn't appear to have anything he believes in so he has spent a lot of the campaign flip-flopping. obama makes early moves that are -- >> i understand you -- >> -- that are doing well for him. >> i believe you understand they made a smart, strategic move to go after the 1% and go af

spent as much time talking about the things obama has done right. obama has done a lot of things right. for one thing, he's just a stronger candidate. he relates to people better. he's more approachable. his favorability rates are higher, while romney has high unfavorability ratings. but obama actually has a set of principles he believes in. so, he has a message that he carries out on the campaign trail over and over again. mitt romney doesn't appear to have anything he believes in so he has spent a lot of the campaign flip-flopping. obama makes early moves that are -- >> i understand you -- >> -- that are doing well for him. >> i believe you understand they made a smart, strategic move to go after the 1% and go after fairness and the whole populous campaign that was pushed and denied and questioned by all the establishment. obama pushed ahead without saying, no, this is what this campaign's about. >> absolutely. you know, there were democratic big wigs saying, don't attack bain. bill clinton had something, you know, not enthusiastic to say about it. but obama was -- kept hitting

romney and president obama right here on abc7. abc news, your voice, your vote. live debate coverage begins at 6:00 p.m. this wednesday. the u.s. supreme court will begin their new term tomorrow and the justices may weigh in on proposition 8. just as clarence thomas and colleagues attended a red mass at the cathedral in washington d.c., the church hosts the annual mass to pray for the judges. the court will hear arguments on october 10th that could further limit or even end affirmative action for college admission. also an appeal to sustain prop 8 could be heard in november. california voters approved a ban on same-sex marriage four years ago. >>> a messy situation on stage proves justin bieber is one dedicated performer. the story ahead and plus a portion of san francisco is now oracle world. the company's big convention could cause some big headaches if you are trying to get around downtown. that story ahead. and the heat will peak [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. your new light creamy potato with bacon & cheese soup says it's 100 calories a serving. that's right. in what world do

right. i mean, barack obama is proposing through and he has through the buffet deal before that we should basically jack up the capital gains tax which would discourage investment. >> bill: you are disagreeing with juan. >> and furthermore barack obama was asked about this in a debate with hillary clinton in 2008 where the moderator said it has been shown tax revenue goes up when the capital gains rate is lower. isn't that something you would be okay with? for fairness i would like to jack it up. >> for fairness now, mary katharine, romney dodges the question. all right. what exemptions going to knock out? what deductions are you going to come down? he goes the devil is in the angel or the angel is in the devil. purgatory is limbo or heaven is hell. i don't know what he said but he dodged it didn't look real good, did it? >> i don't know if he dodges the entire question. >> bill: he dodged the question. you don't know? did you not hear the words? >> on the deduction specifically. i will say there is a lot on the table. there is enough on the table that tax policy groups have been a

? >> i think you could make a deciding difference. people like obama right now, the back story, he ran against hillary clinton that made a lot of people happy. he defeated hillary clinton. first african-american president of the united states, these are good story lines. then he gets into the office the economy is bad bu he look like a family guy and good father and husband. he hasn't diverted or given them any reason not to stick with those images of obama in the last four years. >> bill: you are talking primarily about non-ideological voters. >> yes, absolutely. >> bill: so they think that the president even though they may be disappointed in his performance he is basically a nice guy. do you agree with that? >> i think what has happened is the romney campaign has not given the voters a chance to look at the basic issues he needs to talk about. the more they focus on likeability the better for obama. >> bill: it's close, only three points? >> because romney is good guy, he is basically likable but it has to do with a lot of factors. what people want to focus on and really wanted to s